EJC Elects Leadership Team for 2026–2030 Quadrennium

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Delegates to the Seventh Quadrennial Session of the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists elected a new leadership team after two days of prayer, worship and deliberation to serve the Conference during the 2026–2030 quadrennium.

 

Pastor Melvin Francis was elected president of the Conference; Pastor Adrian Johnson was elected executive secretary; Elder Michael Porteous was re-elected treasurer; and Pastor Sebert Hamilton was elected vice president.

 

The elections took place during the Session, held July 8–9, 2026, at the Kencot Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kingston under the theme, “Mission First: Living According to Prophecy.”

Against this backdrop, Pastor Juan José Morán, associate treasurer of the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, congratulated the newly elected administration and reminded delegates during his devotional message that the Church’s mission must begin with a personal relationship with Christ.

 

“We must seek to have a daily and permanent connection with Jesus Christ,” Morán said, adding that believers should “seek to be a blessing to others by sharing the gospel of salvation.”

 

Building on that emphasis, Pastor Glen O. Samuels, president of the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, also urged the newly elected leaders and the wider Church to remain focused on mission. He highlighted major evangelistic initiatives, including National End-Time Mission Reset, scheduled for December 2026, as preparation for the wider OneVoice27 evangelistic initiative beginning in September 2027.

 

“We cannot just say that we believe in prophecy. It is time to demonstrate that we are practitioners in this prophetic movement and to show, in practical ways, what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ,” Samuels said.

 

Departmental Leaders Elected

 

With mission at the centre of the Conference’s direction for the new quadrennium, delegates not only elected the administrators but also voted on several individuals to serve as departmental directors.

 

Elder Claudette Genas was elected Children, Adolescents and Women’s Ministries Director; Pastor Theodore Henry, Communication Director; Pastor Desmond Clarke, Family Ministries Director; Pastor Ralston Tyrell, Personal Ministries Director; Pastor Omar Oliphant, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Director; Pastor Brian Shaw, Stewardship, Wills and Trust Director; and Pastor Joel Jumpp, Youth Ministries Director.

 

The positions of Sabbath School Director, Health Ministries Director, Ministerial Secretary and the Constitution and Bylaws Committee will be filled by the East Jamaica Conference Executive Committee.

 

Appointments for the Publishing Ministries, Community Services and Education departments will be recommended by the East Jamaica Conference Executive Committee and submitted to the Jamaica Union Conference Executive Committee for ratification.

 

Executive Committee Voted

 

Delegates also elected the Executive Committee for the 2026–2030 quadrennium.

 

The committee will be chaired by Pastor Melvin Francis and will include Pastor Adrian Johnson, Elder Michael Porteous, all departmental directors and the pastors serving as zone leaders for Zones One, Two, Three and Four.

 

Other members elected to the Executive Committee are Claudia Frys-Butler, Donovan Hanson, Sayeed Bernard, Howard Johnson Jr., Lorna Fowler, Stacey-Ann Simpson, Dr Noval Dale, Paulette Stewart, Audrey Sewell, Duane Muirhead, Julia Wong-Brooks, Arlene Barnes and Venus Wallen.

 

The Seventh Quadrennial Session was convened to receive reports from officers and departmental directors, elect leaders for the new quadrennium, consider revisions to the Conference’s Constitution and Bylaws, and conduct other official business.

 

Service and Mission Centered

 

Addressing delegates at the close of the Session, newly elected President Pastor Melvin Francis expressed gratitude for the confidence placed in the new leadership team, while emphasising that the Church’s work remains in God’s hands.

 

“As the newly elected team, it is important that we say a big thank you to the delegates for the confidence that you have vested in us,” Francis said. “Yet, it is not really confidence in us; it is confidence in the God that we serve, because this God is in charge of the work.”

 

Francis said the new administration would place service and mission at the centre of its leadership.

 

“By the grace of God, our leadership will not be about wearing a title, but it will be about serving you, the people,” he said. “We seek your love, your support, your encouragement and your prayers as we pursue mission.”

 

Pointing to the more than 688,000 people within the Conference territory who, he said, have not yet received the gospel message, Francis urged every member to become personally involved in mission.

 

“We have a work to do. Every single member of the Church has a work to do,” he said. “We have no time to waste.”

 

Thank You

 

Francis also expressed appreciation to the previous administration and paid tribute to former President Dr Meric Walker and his wife, Monica, for their leadership and service during the previous quadrennium. He also thanked directors who were not re-elected and acknowledged their contributions to the Conference’s work.

 

In delivering the vote of thanks, newly elected Executive Secretary Pastor Adrian Johnson described the Session as meaningful and Spirit-filled and thanked the delegates, church leaders, workers and support teams for their participation.

 

“We want to thank you wholeheartedly for your prayers and active participation throughout this Conference Session over the past two days,” Johnson said.

 

He concluded with a prayer for the future of the organisation: “May God continue to bless, favour and enlarge the borders of the East Jamaica Conference as we seek to do the mission of the Church.”